KOLKATA (India): Intense court battles between the ruling and opponent groups has once again put Mohammedan Sporting Club in a spot of bother.
The ruling group at Mohammedan Sporting lost a court battle on Tuesday after they filed a case against former general secretary Sheikh Wasim Akram.
The litigation was filed by Ismail Khatri, a Mumbai-based businessman and allegedly close to the club’s current vice-president Mohammed Kamaruddin. But the case was dismissed in the Court of Justice Moushumi Bhattacharya.
Khatri had claimed that as MSC general secretary Akram “took a bribe of Rs 500,000 (5 lakhs) in return for his son’s (Sohail) placement in I-League team”.
The court examined the documents submitted by Akram’s lawyer, and dismissed the case for lack of evidence.
During the I-League qualifiers, Akram was the general secretary of the club after being promoted from the youth development chairman position.
Even during the qualifiers, Mohammedan had a major controversy on the field when coach Yan Law was sacked by the club after two I-League qualifying matches for allegedly sharing information about the team with Minerva academy owner Ranjit Bajaj.
They’ve a strong fan base even outside India but only if the current club administrators understood it or changed themselves to adapt to modern marketing strategies. Any modern club would need to involve or walk with the people or fans.
But with Mohammedan Sporting, things are bit different. The fight is dirty and protracted and with blessings from the local politicians, the club has become a centre of political activities.
Change of coaches and club management by one political party leader, who remote controls the club activities, hasn’t gone down well with the MSC fans.
Last October, coach Yan Law was appointed and then sacked by the club within a month and was followed by Akram’s ouster.
Khatri claimed that while he was Secretary, Akram took a bribe of Rs 5 lakh to give his son Sohail a chance in Mohammedan’s I-League team.
The court examined the documents submitted by Akram’s lawyer, and dismissed the case for lack of evidence.
“I’ve been saying from the beginning that Ismail donated the money to the club fund. He also donated the money when Kamruddin was the General Secretary. Evidence is needed to win the case and they will not be able to prove anything against me in court,” said Akram.
